Though they would have liked to blanket the lower realms Trigold systems with monitors of various sorts, it was risky to leave them unmonitored, and risky for any spies in their systems. While various scanners and recorders could potentially send information back to the Alliance, they could also be captured. And while their enemies didn’t currently understand technology, the more they got their hands on, the faster they would figure it out.
There was no assumption that they wouldn’t get it at some point. Even if they were missing some steps, they could eventually begin picking things apart. Over the course of decades, perhaps, and it could even be centuries… but the potential was worrying. Especially if they were able to share with the upper realms. It was likely that they had more effective methods of contacting the upper realms on permanent worlds compared to worlds like Vrelt, which had been a slower process due to their need to conceal themselves.
Furthermore, the Alliance didn’t want to let on how much information they were actually gathering, so they had to be conservative to some extent. Pushing for a tenth more information might actually make them lose out on half of what they were already gathering, if they were figured out and proper countermeasures were put in place.
Even with that in mind, they pushed to monitor the fallout of the situation with the worldheart being dropped upon the Fearsome Menagerie’s sect grounds on the planet Kunion. They had intended to cause some friction, but the Alliance got even more than what they might have hoped. Beyond simple friction, it was flint and steel being struck above a pile of tinder.
Only so much was read about the situation with Nthanda and the others withdrawing, but the scanners they left behind detected a clash of powerful natural energies in several locations. Around the grounds of both the Fearsome Menagerie and the Void Scrying Sect, and then above the planet in small fleets.
The conflicts spread from there, dotted around the planet as various other sects joined in one one side or the other. Ultimately, it ended in favor of the Fearsome Menagerie holding onto the worldheart and pushing out many of the others. Things hadn’t gone so far that they were willing to attempt to exterminate the other sects, but there was no lack of death either.
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A small ship, part of a modest squad of scouts, was following the projected path of a particular ship that had left Kunion just before the conflict. If nothing had gone wrong, it would be beyond their reach, most likely having arrived at its destination. But there was some hope that it had been stopped as well, which would have put any small adjustments within a certain range, traveling at system appropriate speeds.
They’d been sweeping the area for several days with no luck so far, but it would be a few more before they could declare their search patterns would have covered everything. If they found nothing after that point, they would have to give up.
But eventually, their sensors picked up on something- and given the emptiness of space, they could only assume it would be their target.
They almost missed it, not because the ship was concealed but because most of its natural energy was gone. The outside of the ship looked fine, but the inside… scans indicated cultivators collapsed in the few small hallways. Most of those had wounds from void ants. The group at the helm, however, were strewn about their seating, some have clearly tried to get away from… something.
Scanners indicated unknown compounds, which meant the scouts wouldn’t be attempting to board. Instead, they matched velocity with the ship, then slowly approached- moving at a relative velocity of just a few meters per second. It was precise work, but they nudged the ship into a new trajectory that the Trigold cultivators wouldn’t be able to predict. Then they would recommend a containment ship come to pick it up, or a disposal crew if that couldn’t be arranged.
Knowing what sorts of things the Trigold Cluster had been flinging at their planets, they wouldn’t go in without much better protection than enchanted space suits. Especially given the scans indicated caustic substances among other things.
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Even before the internal conflict spread beyond Kunion, the Shining Cooperative and Lower Realms Alliance had fleets en route to strike at the Trigold Cluster once more. Their people had been waiting with varying degrees of patience until they were confident in launching more assaults. Changing their plans at the last minute was not optimal, but everyone agreed that modifying which locations were primary targets had to be done.
Among other things, their targets on Kunion were half devastated already. While they might gain some advantage attacking a planet that had recently undergone strife, it was agreed that it was better to focus on one side of the conflict. And if there was going to be a priority enemy in the current conflict, the Void Scrying Sect was the one.
Thus, they shifted focus to southern and eastern portions of enemy territory. That would mean the Shining Cooperative had to skirt around the border, but that merely took more time.
Varghese joined with others from In’istra and the wider Alliance. Though he wasn’t much better than a Life Transformation cultivator in a system where he had no bound star, that didn’t mean he wasn’t able to fight. He just had to have a bit more caution instead of leading the charge. And while he might be a target if they noticed he was weaker… there were many others they would have to worry about first.
The Shining Cooperative had a number of new Assimilation cultivators in addition to Kybele, the captain of the Astral Spear. The ship had already been the equivalent of an Ascension-class vessel, but with her binding to it both grew stronger than before.
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The Trigold Cluster would have more to worry about compared to catching Varghese in a nonoptimal state, and he planned to bind a star in one of their core worlds once they got there. Instead, they were fighting through their outer territory, driving a wedge into the territory where they could move more freely. Temporary bases were established as they took over outlying bases and less populated planets.
The only sects that were exterminated without question were the Twin Soul Sect. There was much discussion about eradicating the Trigold Cluster from the lower realms entirely, and Varghese supported that… to an extent.
First there were average civilians, who had done nothing wrong except be born in a particular place. There weren’t actually many of these, as the sects of the Trigold Cluster tended to control almost everything- most people were inducted into the sect of their parents. However, there were still some innocents, especially the remaining descendents of previous groups, mainly kept as slaves- the presence of which made eradicating particular groups much easier to justify.
Beyond those who were not truly part of the Trigold Cluster were those who had little choice. It would be extremely difficult to differentiate them from true members of the sects. Perhaps it wouldn’t even be possible. But some sects were worse than others. Any found to be involved with the bioweapons and especially the destruction of Zunrose’s star would be completely wiped out. The Twin Soul Sect was a threat for various reasons, and the Void Scrying Sect was clearly involved in the most foul deeds.
The others… like the Worthy Shore Society and the Hardened Crown Sect, they could potentially be spared as fellow cultivators. Not without consequences, of course. There should be consequences for specific actions and being part of a greater force of death. But they couldn’t be allowed to remain as they were, or they could become staging grounds for another wave of cultivators from the upper realms.
Varghese had no doubts they had the strength to win the war. The Lower Realms Alliance and their many Assimilation cultivators could manage that. It was simply a matter of how many people they would lose, and how it would set them back for potential future conflicts- and guaranteed events such as the next invasion from the upper realms only a few centuries hence.
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Anton kept abreast of the events happening with the war, but chose to focus his efforts on positive things. Things such as exploration- beyond the western borders of their alliance was not explored to a great degree. He also offered some of his experience to Vrelt and Nidec, their newly joined systems. Both planets offered some of their cultivators for the war. Nidec because it was wary of too much upper realms influence, and Vrelt because of their recent troubles with the Trigold Cluster specifically.
It was unfortunate that they hadn’t had the time to fully integrate with the Alliance before the war began- though they were far enough that the process was still going smoothly, it was slowed down somewhat. The situation with the Shining Cooperative was even more unfortunate. Though perhaps the war was good for bringing them close together, Anton would have been quite happy if it took longer and didn’t come at the cost of the lives of millions on Mazlerth and all of those who had and would perish in the war.
Interstellar wars were messy. If everyone was lucky, most battles would occur in space and have minimal collateral damage. But if people were lucky, they wouldn't be at war on the offensive or defensive. Unfortunately, Anton didn’t know any way to avoid war except if everyone was dead. And that was exactly the opposite of what he wanted.
The Lower Realms alliance was a stellar example of cooperation, but even it had its imperfections. Integrating new people was difficult, as cultures clashed- even with shared origins from generations past. And the more power one had, the more they could do wrong with it.
That was not the world Anton wanted, and yet removal of power wasn’t the solution. At most, it would work for a generation until someone decided they wanted great cultivation- or even great technology. The only way was to make people not want or need. But unfortunately, humans were never satisfied as a default. There was always more they could have.
On the other hand, humans could learn. Did learn. And Anton saw great changes in his lifetime. He had hope for the future, if they survived. And if not, they would go down fighting every step of the way.
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The distractions of civil war were quite useful for sneaking a larger ship into enemy territory. It took longer than they might prefer, but a circuitous route had been necessary to reach the particular point of space where their drifting target lay.
Dervla watched their ship close around the smaller one. She had grown up just as a wave of Ruteran technological expertise was washing over Weos. Because of that, she had focused more on the path of science and technology than pure cultivation. Not that they were actually incompatible. It was simply a matter of different routes to understanding the world.
“What do the scans say?” she asked as she approached her assistant.
“The initial scans have revealed little the scouts did not see.”
“What of the void ants?”
Dervla’s assistant shook her head. “Unfortunately, it is unlikely any survived. The entire vessel is contaminated with countless compounds. Our scanners picked up many of their bodies in the storage area, many only partially intact due to corrosive compounds. Perhaps those were the lucky ones, as they would have died quickly. And any others… well, there wouldn’t be anything uncontaminated to eat for months.”
“They could have survived off of the natural energy, perhaps,” Dervla said. But even though she said that, she wasn’t actually hopeful to find any survivors. Despite their distinct lack of humanity, the void ants were still staunch allies. Though she knew that the void ants themselves would mourn the loss less than some of their people might. “If not, at least they stopped an extremely problematic shipment. My insight tells me some of these compounds would have been replicated on a larger scale at their destination. It would have been nice if they could have stopped the ship without compromising the containers and killing themselves, but…”
Dervla shook her head. It wasn’t actually difficult to kill void ants, if one knew to expect them. They were more durable than normal ants, but they could still withstand less poison than humans if it didn’t require natural energy to function. And even a simple flamethrower would likely take out most of those beyond the level of a royal guard. No doubt the Trigold Cluster had some ways, and they were already apprised of the void ants existence.